Abbott's stand boosts his poll percentage

By
SEAN FORD

THE Abbott government's response to the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner may be behind its strong bounce in Tasmanian and national polling.

THE Abbott government's response to the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner may be behind its strong bounce in Tasmanian and national polling.

Two-party preferred support for the Coalition in Tasmania jumped by 5 per cent in the last fortnight, to 44 per cent, according to the latest Morgan Poll results.

Labor fell back to 56 per cent, still a big lead.

The trend was similar, but less pronounced, nationally.

The government increased its two-party preferred number by 2 per cent to 45.5 per cent, with Labor down to 54.5 per cent.

That remained an election-winning lead for Labor, but put the Coalition within sight of competitiveness.

The polling was taken during the last two weekends.

Pollster Gary Morgan said the government's numbers had picked up after its strong response to the plane tragedy.

Tony Abbott

"The Abbott government's forceful response - advocating a United Nations resolution to demand a full investigation into the terrible crash which killed 298 people over Eastern Ukraine - has been widely praised including by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten," Mr Morgan said.

"The other trend evident in this week's Morgan Poll is a significant fall in support for the minor parties.

"The Greens have fallen to 10.5 per cent (down 1 per cent), the Palmer United Party has fallen to 5 per cent (down 2.5 per cent) and support for other parties-independents has fallen to 7.5 per cent (down 1 per cent).

"This is the lowest level of support for the minor parties since early February and indicates that in troubled times support returns to the major parties at the expense of the minor parties.